Portable devices, such as mobile telephones and personal digital assistant. (PDA) devices, provide users/customers convenience in receiving and transmitting information. These devices are typically configured to run various electronic applications including video applications, e-mail applications, and the like. However, loading these and other electronic applications onto the devices has proven to be burdensome and inefficient for the device user. For example, conventional methods of loading/downloading electronic applications include physically connecting the device to a specialized application tool, which requires the customer to return the device to the device retailer or location having the application tool. A second method includes downloading applications using the wireless application protocol (WAP) that requires the customer to navigate through a dedicated portal having successive links for initiating application download. In many cases, utilizing the WAP method requires the customer to terminate an existing call or session in order to perform the download operation. An additional method for providing an application includes a push over-the-air (POTA) method, wherein a service provider initiates an application download to the customer. However, it is commonly known that not all wireless devices (e.g., cellular telephones) support the POTA mechanism.
The embodiments described herein were conceived in view of these and other disadvantages of conventional methods for providing electronic applications.